Operating mechanism for chutes



S. SHAFER, In.

OPERAHNG MECHANISM FOR CHUTES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 7. I921.

1,415,410, Patented May 9, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET Quota S. SHAFER, JR.

OPERAHNGMECHANISM FOR CHUTES. APPLICATION FILED JAN-k192i.

1,415,410. Patented May9,1922.

e m A MR M 2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

a citizen of the United States, residing at UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

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Application filed January 7.1921. Serial no; 435301."

To azzwiwma a' g Be it known that I, SAMUEL SEAFEB, J r.,.

Milwaukee in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, have invented certainf'new and useful Improvements in Operating Mechanism for Chutes, of which the followin is a specification. I

y invention relates to a motor driven, as distinguished from .a manually operated,

-mechanism' for operating'a chute through which material is delivered,an example of which type of power driven chute is illustrated in U. S. Letters Patent #1,230,731

to G. W. Levalley.

It has for its object to simplify and improve mechanism of 'this kin In the accompanying drawings Figure l'is a side view of apparatus em- 'body1ng my invention devised for operating the discharge "chute of a concrete mixing machine. .Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the-same apparatus. i

In the accompanying drawingsA designates a rotated mixing drum of a concrete mixing machine, and B the discharge chute thereof. The chute represented in the draw ings is of the form' represented in Patent inner section b and an outer section 6, these being united by a pivot d. The invention,

#1,243,614 to Levalley and consists of an however. is applicable to other forms of chute whether used for deliveringmaterial from or to a receptacle, such as the. drum A. The chute is supported by arms O fixed to a shaft 10 that extendsacross the machine at the rear of the drum and preferabl above the discharge opening a. therein, an is 'supported in any suitable manner.

3' indicates a power shaft, which may be the shaft from which the drum is rotated and which therefore turns whenever the machine is in operation. It carries a pair of bevel .wheels 1, 2, loose upon the'shaft and in mesh with a bevel wheel 4- on a, shaft 5. The wheels land 2 engage with diametri cally opposite portions of the driven wheel 4 so that the latter is turned in one direction or the other accordingly as the wheel-1 or 2 is at the moment connected with thepower shaft 3. To'efi'ect this connection-a clutch of usual construction is employed, the shiftwith t therewith, and yet be free to be shifted into engagement with either ofthe wheels 1 or 2,

: Specification of Letters Patent. P tented May 9, 1922';

or to occupy a neutral position between them. The shaft 3 is parallel with the axis of rotation of the drum A and the. shaft 5 is at right angles thereto. At the outer end of the shaft 5 is a bevel wheel 6 in mesh with a bevel pinion 7 secured to a downwardly extending shaft 8 which carries at its lower end a worm 19. This worm is in engagement with a worm wheel 9, through which it drives the shaft 10 carrying the chute B.

In the operation of a concrete mixing machine the chute is maintained at rest in one Or the other of two positions, one, represented in dotted lines in..Fig. 1, being the position occupied when material isbeing discharged from the mixing drum, and the other, represented infull lines in-the same view, the position occupied while the chute is inactive and during the time the batch of concrete is being mixed but not discharged. The worm wheel 9 is loose upon the shaft 10, but is connected therewith through an arm 21 secured fast, to the shaft, and a breaker orshear pin 12, inserted in openings formed respectively in the arm 21 and wheel- 9.and arranged to be brought into alignment with each other. The reason for thus-connectin the driven, chute-carrying shaft 10 %e power will be later stated.

13 indicates a crank arm keyed to the "shaft 10. It carries at its outer end a stud or projection 20 adapted to enter and to move along a slot .14 formed in a llnk 15 that ispivotally connected with the operating lever 16 for the shifting member 11 of the clutch on the power shaft. This lever is supported by a shaftv 22, parallel with the shaft 5 and preferably arranged above 1t, carrying'the yoke 23 by which the clutch member 11 is shifted. At the opposite ends of theslot 14 in the link 15 are adjusting screws-17 and 18, adapted, by their positions, to determine the length of the slot, and accordingly the distance the projection 20 of the crank arm 13 is allowed to move relative to the link 15- and without imparting motion thereto. The clutch shifting lever 16 is adapted to be operated manually, as well as automatically.

The 0 eration of themechanism will now be described: It will be assumed that thechute is in its-inactive position, indicated by .full lines inFig; 1, where'it remains until the contents Lofthe drum A are to be discharged. When this time arrives the attendant moves the clutch lever 16 so as to en- 1 with the power shaft. This gage the gear ;causes the shaft to be turned and the chute brought to the position indicated by chute reaches the position it is to occupy. for discharge purposes; if, for any reason,

the clutch should not be operated as just described, and the driving connection be maintained so as to cause the discharge chute to overtravel, bringing it into engagement with the mixing drum. or with some fixed part of the apparatus, the shear in 12,

through which the force to move the c ute is transmitted, would yield and the shaft 1( would remain inoperative even'though the. worm wheel 9 would continue in-rotationl When the chute is to. be moved back to in:

operative position the attendant moves the inner end of the'slot 14 and comes into enshifting lever 16 so as to connect the-chutemoving mechanism with the power shaft through the wheel 2, and the reverse movements to those that have been described take place. As, during such movements, the projection 20 of the crank arm 13 reaches the gagement with the adjusting screw 18', it shifts the clutch to neutral position, arrest ing the chute in the desired outer or inoperative position;

It will be seen that the mechanism described provides for automatically arresting the chute driving mechanism when the chute has come .to one or the other of the positions in which it is to remain at rest, and that,v

there are provided adjustable means by which these ositions of rest can be accu rately determined, varied, and re ulated.

The crank arm 13 and slotted link 15 constitute a lost-motion connection tintennediate between the power shaft and the chutecarrying shaft. The adjustable screws 17 and '18 constitute means ,by which the amount of lost motion in this connection may be controlled. The gearing, between the power shaft 3 and the chute-carrying shaft '10 may be protected by a suitable casing or'housing.

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a It will be seen that the shaft '8' and" the gears which it carries constitute a train'of gearing that is intermediate between the reversing gearing on, thepowershaft 3 and the rock shaft that carries the chute. This arrangement of gearing has been devised with especial reference to using the invent1on in connection wlth a concrete m1xer,,a s

represented in the drawings,whereit is desirable that the power shaft 3 shall be alongside of and close to the mixing drum. This in turn makes it necessary that the power shaft and the rock shaft carrying the dis-. charge chute shall be in different vertical The; arrangement shown connects these two shafts in such waythat the power shaft and the rock shaft may respectively occupy positions most advantageous for their use inLa concrete mixing machine and yet make 'the'entiremechanism compact so that it may be enclosed by asingle casing er housing of small size and'located close the mixing drum. What I claim is:- 1. A chute, a rock shaft by which the chute is supported,a power shaft, reversing gear-- ing and a clutch associated with the power shaft, an intermediate shaft between the said reversing gearing and the rock shaft through i which motion s communicated from the power shaft to the rockshaft, in one direction or the other as the clutch is adjusted,

and means for automatically moving the clutch to neutral position when the chute arrives at the desired Limit of movement. p

2. A chute, power-driven mechanism for intermittently oscillating "it, including a clutch adapted to connectethe chute--operat-. ing mechanism with the source ofpower so as to move the chute in one direction or the other, or tooccupy a neutralposition with the chutedisconnected from the source of.

power and at rest, means for automatically moving the clutch to neutral position when the chutev arrives at the desired limit of movement, and means for adjusting the timeat which such automatic means will operate,

whereby the position at which the chute is arrested may be regulated at will. i

- 3.-A chute, a shaft supporting it, a power- Vdriven mechanism for intermittently oscillating the shaft and moving the chute, in-

eluding a clutch, an arm connected with the shaft and movable therewith, and means operated by the said arm for shifting the clutch to neutral position when the shaft has been turned to bring the chute. to the desired position, including a lost-motion connection;

having an' abutment, with which the arm engages to move the clutch.

4. A chute, a shaft supporting it,v powerdriven mechanism for intermittently oscillating the shaft and moving the chute, including'a clutch, a lever for shifting the clutch, an arm connected with the chute-supfor moving the lever to actuate the clutch.

5. A chute, a shaft supporting it, powerdriven mechanism for intermittently oscillating the shaft and moving the chute, including a clutch, a lever for shifting the c utch, a crank arm, connected with the chutesupporting shaft, and a lost-motion connection between the said armand the clutchshifting lever arranged to move the lever to shift the clutch to neutral position as the shaft is oscillated to bring the chute to the desired positions at which it is to come to rest. Y

6. A chute, a shaft supportingit, powerdriven mechanism for intermittently oscillating the shaft and the chute, including a clutch, a lever adapted to be manually opera ted for shifting the clutch to connect the chute-carrying shaft with the source of power to cause it to be turned in one direction or the other, a crank arm carried by the shaft, a slotted link connected with the clutch-shifting, lever, the free end of the crank arm being movable in the slot of the said link, and'adjustable screws at the ends of the slot with which the crank arm comes into engagement as the shaft has been turned so as to bring the chute to the position at which it is to be arrested.

7. A chute, a shaft supporting it, powerdriven mechanism for intermittently oscillating the shaft and moving the chute, including a clutch, means for automatically moving the clutch to disconnect the chutecarrying shaft. from thesource of power when the chute arrives at the desired limit of movement, and a shear pin in'the driving connection of the chute-carrying shaft arranged to break if the automatic means for shifting the clutch to neutral position fails to operate and the chute be moved into engagement with some obstructing object.

8. A' chute and a shaft supporting it, power-driven mechanism for intermittently oscillating the shaft, including a clutch, and a breakable pin adapted to yield should the shaft and chute be moved beyond the 'de sired limits, an arm connected with the shaft, and means operated by the arm for shifting the clutch to neutral position, with the chute and supporting shaft disconnected from the source of power when the chute comes to the position at which it isto be arrested.

SAMUEL SHAFER, JR, 

